Six Italian policemen killed in Iraq blast
At least six Italian military policemen were killed when a truck bomb blast tore through their headquarters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah today.
Officials feared others were trapped under the debris.
The bomb went off at about 10.40 am Iraqi time (07.40am Irish time) at the multinational specialist unit, the Carabinieri – military police – said in a statement.
A Carabinieri official confirmed that six Italians were dead.
Another official, Major Roberto Riccardi, said the building was in flames, and that some Italians may be under the debris, although details were difficult to come by because communication had been severed.
“We cannot exclude the possibility that there are soldiers under the rubble,” he said.
Carabinieri also said there may also be injuries among Iraqis.
Italy has sent about 2,300 troops to help the reconstruction of Iraq.
About 300 Carabinieri are based in the Nasiriyah camp, along with 110 Romanians.
Everyone was believed to have been inside the building at the time of the blast, because it occurred early in the morning, Riccardi said.
Since August, vehicle bombs have targeted several international buildings, including the UN headquarters, the offices of the international Red Cross, the Baghdad Hotel and the Turkish and Jordanian embassies in Baghdad.
Nasiriyah, a Shiite city, had been relatively quite in recent months, although it was the scene of heavy fighting during the war. The area is under British command
It was where the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed in March and where a number of Americans were captured, including Jessica Lynch.
There have been no combat-related fatalities among Italian troops serving in the multinational force.
The Italian official heading up efforts to recover Iraq’s looted antiquities, Pietro Cordone, was in a car that came under mistaken US fire in September in northern Iraq. Cordone’s Iraqi interpreter was killed in the shooting.
Another US soldier was reported killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad.
